Police Proposed Throwing Polish Priest From Train, Witness Says

A secret police captain charged with kidnaping and killing a pro-Solidarity priest proposed to intimidate the cleric by tossing him from a moving train, a witness testified Wednesday.

Jozef Baczynski, 38, a deputy to Lt. Col. Leszek Wolski of the Warsaw police, said that 10 days before the killing of Father Jerzy Popieluszko, he had met with the chief defendant, Capt. Grzegorz Piotrowski, who told him of a plan to frighten the cleric.

“Piotrowski said that some action had to be taken to curb the activities of Popieluszko. He wanted to frighten him by pushing him out of a moving train,” Baczynski said.

Piotrowski is accused with Lts. Waldemar Chmielewski and Leszek Pekala of abducting, beating and killing Popieluszko last Oct. 19. Secret police Col. Adam Pietruszka is accused of instigating the crime.

Baczynski, who met Piotrowski in the company of Wolski and Piotrowski’s deputy, Janusz Drozdz, said none of the police officers present reacted when Piotrowski suggested hurling the priest from a train.

“There were feelings of repugnance towards Popieluszko, and we all thought it was important to restrict his hostile activities, but nobody reacted to what Piotrowski said,” Baczynski said.

Popieluszko’s fiery sermons in support of the outlawed Solidarity union frequently angered Poland’s Communist government.

A defense lawyer asked Baczynski, “Why didn’t any of you say anything about the idea of throwing him out of a train. Do you think that Piotrowski would be in the dock now if you had said something?”

Baczynski offered no reply.

Capt. Piotrowski appeared nervous and fidgety as he sat between his two co-defendants in court. He frequently shifted back and forward, at times placing his forehead on a wooden rail in front of him.

In previous testimony, he admitted kidnaping the priest but pleaded not guilty to charges of murder.

Wolski, Baczynski’s superior, testified there was a long-term plan within the police to halt the activities of Popieluszko, but he corroborated Col. Pietruszka’s earlier testimony that there was never any intention to use force against him.

He also denied there was any mention of throwing the priest from a train.

“I was never instructed by anybody to use force against the priest. My task was simply to collect evidence to compromise him in his activities,” he said.

Wolski said he had met with Bishop Jerzy Romaniuk to complain about Popieluszko.

“After this meeting I expected the priest to be transferred or removed,” he said. “There were two ways of silencing Popieluszko--either by protesting to the church or by putting him on trial.”

He was then asked, “Did anyone ask you to kidnap Popieluszko?”

“Nobody,” Wolski said.